


Hope is that thing with Feathers

by TooFarForward



Series: Straight As A Rainbow [1]
Category: One Direction
Genre: Angst, M/M, Niall's in a coma, Zayn just wants his leprechaun back
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-14
Updated: 2013-10-14
Packaged: 2017-12-29 08:51:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1003410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooFarForward/pseuds/TooFarForward
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It only takes one accident to realize how much you love somebody. What happens when this accident threatens to take away the one he loves?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hope is that thing with Feathers

It wasn’t always cold in the hospital, but Zayn was positive that the temperature had dropped twelve degrees since Niall fell into a coma.

And it was so odd, too. Niall was looking much better after the incident, and everybody –including the doctors- thought he’d make a speedy recovery. Then, just as Zayn was going to tell his boyfriend about the latest match between Derby and Manchester, everything just… stopped.

There was a flurry of nurses and doctors, all rushing to stabilize the fair-haired boy, but the best they could do was put him into a medically induced coma. Nobody expected it would result in this.

It had been a week. A week that Zayn had been aimlessly walking through these corridors while the nurses tended to his Niall. A week that Zayn hadn’t even set foot outside of the ward. He wasn’t going to leave Niall. Not now, not ever.

Zayn had thought about the accident hundreds of times in his head; picked it over with a fine-toothed comb. He just couldn’t help but feel incredibly guilty. If he hadn’t been so stubborn, Niall would be safely curled up by his side in their own bed in their apartment right now; not fighting for his life in the room of a hospital.

 

_The club was a lot rowdier tonight than usual, which immediately made Niall tense a little. No matter how much he enjoyed clubbing, the tight space and cramped bodies still managed to make him feel a little uneasy. Zayn was acutely aware of this, but after about his fifth straight shot he found himself unable to properly deal with his boyfriends qualms._

_Niall himself was just as buzzed, but he hadn’t really felt in the mood for the loud music and sweaty bodies around him. He was merely humouring Zayn, because he knew how hard Zayn had worked that week, and blowing off some steam did sound like a great idea._

_And so they danced together, as you do at a club full of strangers. Bodies pressed tightly together, hips grinding; it was the usual night out for any bloke eager enough to come to a club in London. Niall had to fend off the hungry hands of a few of the other patrons, glaring whenever somebody came too close to Zayn. Zayn just chuckled at his protectiveness, pulling the Irishman closer to himself._

_“’S’no need to worry ‘bout me, love. You know I’m all yours.” Zayn hissed into his ear, tugging at the back of Niall’s hair softly. Niall moaned, grinning at the older boy before swooping in for a swift peck on the lips. He knew they’d be out of here soon enough; Zayn was getting more grabby by the second. It would only be a matter of time before he was pulling the younger boy into a taxi and heading to their shared apartment to continue their… activities._

_“’m gonna go and get us some more drinks. You want to wait over there for me, babe?” Zayn gestured to one of the numerous tables set around the dance floor, and Niall hummed in agreement. Not that he really wanted to stay for another round, but he loved how the alcohol seemed to loosen up the older boy after being so stressed. Zayn was an affectionate drunk; he got extra cuddly, and Niall never failed to take advantage of these situations, snuggling with the raven-haired boy as much as he could before things got too steamy._

_Zayn just really adored Niall. He knew, for a fact, that Niall wasn’t really interested in going to the club with him on this particular night. He knew his boyfriend would have rather stayed home and watched the newest rom-com starring Jennifer Anniston. But he agreed to come with Zayn, nonetheless, which warmed his heart immensely. He planned on this being the final round of the night, hoping Niall would still feel like watching that movie when they got home. He wasn’t drunk, per se, but he was at least tipsy, which made him smile as he ordered two beers. The blond boy was quite adorable when he was under the influence (when he was proper drunk he was just really loud and sort of obnoxious, but Zayn just found it even more endearing)._

_As the drinks came, Zayn turned his attention back to the table where he’d left Niall, only to find it occupied by another man as well. Not that Zayn was the jealous type, but Zayn was definitely the jealous type._

_Niall, for his part, was looking terribly uncomfortable with the situation; the man having moved his hand to caress the blonde’s thigh. This infuriated Zayn to no end. Who does this pervert think he is? And, of course, that’s when things started to go downhill._

_“Hey mate, you mind stepping away from my boyfriend?” Zayn asked through gritted teeth. It was worth a shot at being polite._

_“’scuse me mate, but me and this pretty little thing here were just having a nice little chat.” The bloke, who was slowly sliding the palm of his hand upwards, snorted and turned back to face Niall. “Was thinking maybe we could go back to mine, gorgeous. I bet you know how to take it rough.”_

_To say Zayn was furious would be an understatement. Niall pushed the older guy away from him before he could cop a proper feel, but this only seemed to spur the man on._

_“Look, buddy, I’m serious. Get your filthy hands off of my Boyfriend.” Zayn hissed, glaring furiously at the man in front of him, who appeared to be in his early thirties. The guy only smirked, grabbing a hold of Niall’s chin and sloppily gluing their mouths together. Niall struggled to get out of the drunkards grip, but failed, turning to see the fury marring Zayn’s beautiful features._

_He just wanted to go back to their apartment and curl up on the couch. He didn’t want to be assaulted by some pervert in the middle of a club._

_Zayn launched into action, naturally, landing a blow square on the strangers cheek, causing his face to be separated from Niall’s at last. Of course, this bloke wouldn’t stay down for long, so Zayn grabbed Niall by the hand, tugging him out of the crowded room and into the cold night air of London._

_“Are you okay? He didn’t…” Zayn huffed, pulling Niall closer to him. Niall just shook his head, grinning like an idiot._

_“Thank God you showed up when you did, he was horrible at the whole ‘pick-up lines’ thing.” Niall sighed, wrapping his arms around Zayn’s waist. He was clearly shaken, even though he tried to hide it through humour; which Zayn could see right through._

_“Let’s go home. We could watch that new Jennifer Aniston movie we bought.” Zayn pulled away, giving Niall a small smile. Niall beamed at him and nodded happily._

_Neither of them saw it coming._

_They stood at the edge of the curb, hand in hand, waiting for a cab to pull up. Zayn squeezed Niall’s hand lightly before letting go, stepping out a little farther to properly hail them a cab, but was having no luck._

_That’s when Niall got hit._

_The man from inside the club came barrelling out, rage obvious on his drunken, bruised face. Zayn saw too late what he was running toward, and didn’t have enough time to pull Niall out of the way. The man ran at Niall, pushing him off his feet and into the oncoming traffic. Before Zayn could even think, he heard the squealing of brakes and the screech of the tires. He also heard the loud thump of two bodies hitting the car before toppling to the ground._

_The other man got up, with nothing but a cut lip and a swollen elbow._

_Niall was unconscious; bleeding from several different places._

_Zayn felt numb._

It wasn’t as if Niall hadn’t woken up, because he did. About two days after the accident, Niall gave the doctors a start when he demanded some hash browns and a pint. He didn’t get either of those things, but he did get to talk to Zayn.

Zayn, who had been in tears for the better half of those two days, worried sick over his leprechaun. Zayn, who told Niall about what had happened and was apologizing every ten seconds. Zayn, who’s hands felt incredibly warm around his own.

The nurse said that it may have just been a mild concussion, but that didn’t stop Zayn from looking at the bruises on his lovers skin; the bandages covering most of the stitches.

Niall told Zayn about the weird dream he had had about a penguin riding a blue whale in the Sahara desert, singing the entire Rocky Horror musical chorus. Zayn laughed and agreed that it was weird.

They stayed there for another three days before Niall got the okay to come home.

They still haven’t left. It’s been a week.

On the day Zayn had come to collect an extremely hyper looking Niall, the doctors finally found out what was wrong with the Irish boy.

But only after the worst had happened.

Niall had had a seizure.

The doctors said that it was a build-up of pressure in his brain, and Zayn had yelled and screamed that they should have noticed. He knew it wasn’t their fault. He just needed someone else to blame.

He still blamed himself.

 

 

So now he was laid out beside Niall on the small hospital bed, running his fingers over every inch of bare skin he could find; curling his fingers into Niall’s hair, whispering in the younger boys ear.

“I love you Niall.” “Please don’t leave me.” “I don’t want to be here alone.”

And he did this for days, just waiting for those blues eyes to flutter open. For those soft lips to part in a breath he hasn’t been able to take without the help of the machine. There was no change

But still he waited.

When it hit the tenth straight day of unconsciousness, Niall’s mum came in, crying on Zayn’s shoulder for her precious baby. Zayn cried too. It was a hard day. They both slept on the uncomfortable chairs that night.

The next day, a nurse came by to speak to Maura about ‘pulling the plug’. Zayn sat by Niall’s side, listening, but not. He cried a lot since the accident, but this was the worst. Maura came and put a supportive hand on his shoulder, her body wracked with sobs as she took in the sight of her baby boy. Her Niall.

They were giving him a week.

_‘It shouldn’t have even come to this’_. Zayn thinks bitterly. _‘He was doing fine. He’ll be fine.’_

He spent that night curled into Niall’s side, peppering the younger boy with soft, sweet kisses; even if they went unnoticed.

On the third day, Niall’s hand twitched.

On the fourth, his eyelids started to flutter. He was dreaming. He was waking up.

Zayn stayed curled at his side, only moving when absolutely necessary. He whispered nonsense into the blonde boy’s ear, nipping and kissing at it to try and gain a response, but gaining nothing but pitiful stares from the hospital staff.

On the fifth day, they day Zayn was dreading, Niall woke up.

 

It was early in the morning, Zayn silently stroking the blonde’s hair. The roots were starting to show, but Zayn just thought they made his angel look all the more adorable.

“I love you, Niall.” Zayn whispered, tears leaking out of his closed eyes. He’d been chanting this for days, but it still bought no response from the blue-eyed boy.

Deep in his thoughts, Zayn missed the fluttering of eyelids; the twitch of a small, pale hand.

Niall slowly caressed Zayn’s cheek, wiping away the tears with his thumb.

“Why are you crying, Zayn?” Niall asked voice hoarse from disuse. Zayn startled, and from his position on Niall’s chest he looked up into the tired, blue eyes of his lover.

Zayn sobbed, burying his face in Niall’s chest. Niall moving slightly so he was on his side, arms wrapping around Zayn, being careful of the tubes attached to himself.

“I almost lost you, Niall. I thought….” He cut himself off as another sob escaped his lips. Niall rubs his back soothingly, feeling the sobs turn to hiccups before leaving entirely.

They sit like that for hours, Zayn staring into Niall’s eyes, Niall looking back intently, both their eyes hooded out of sheer exhaustion.

Zayn brushed Niall’s fringe out of his face, smiling at how young the boy in front of him looked, stroking down the other boys cheek and letting it rest there.

“I love you so much, Niall. I’m just so glad you woke up.”

Niall holds Zayn as tight as his limbs would allow, a tear escaping his own eyes at Zayn words.

“I love you too, Zayn. I’ll never let you go, I promise.”

 

_Fin_

**Author's Note:**

> idk what I'm doing... Have some Ziall sads.


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